Cable modem / FTP upload speeds

Jake, learn how to properly state your speeds. 3 megabits per second would be stated 3 Mb/s or also written as 3 Mbps - 450 kilobytes per second would be 450 KB/s or 450 KBps.

Bits = b Bytes = B Kilo = K Mega = M

You could be mixing up bits and bytes on your tests, but since you didn't specify which they are it's not obvious (except for the 3 Mb/s since that wouldn't be bytes).

Jake, Most cable connections have a 10:1 ratio of download to upload speeds. That means that if you have 3mpbs down, then likely you have only 256-384kbps up. Your speeds would seem to fall within that general range. Note that if you have some specific models of modem, the upload speed will not be as high as the potential max. Consult your cable company for exact figures, and modem specs.

There are many factors, such as the server, your connection, their connection, load on the server, load along the way etc. I'm on cable modem and have seen download speeds approaching 5 Mb/s. Also, cable is not asychronous. It, like ADSL, is asymetrical, which means different up & down bandwidths. The actual data transmission, in both cable & DSL is synchronous.

Mine's 5 Mb down & 800Kb up or 6.25:1. ADSL also has different up & down rates.

Trying to steal the thunder from Arnold, "Jake" on Sat, 22 Jan

There's a HUGE difference (10:1 at least) between most cable mode UL and DL speeds.

'Most'? This is a wild exaggeration.

Yes.

cheers,

Henry

Clue: The service is asymmetrical.

A typical cable Internet package has a download speed of 3000 vs. an upload speed of 256. It doesn't matter what the unit being used is (as long you're consistent, and the original poster wasn't), it's the ratio that matters. The typical upload is going to take roughly 12 times as long as a download of the same file even before you start to factor in things like the number of hops, interchanges between networks, and server capacity.

I'll say that again: The service is asymmetrical. Uploads are always going to take significantly more time than downloads.

Also, don't forget that if you're doing a direct file transfer between you and someone else with the same cable Internet service, the speed of the download is going to be limited to how fast the file is being uploaded on the other end.

Jake,

I have the same experience as you regarding the transfer of files directly between two cable connected computers, in different cities, using FTP. The transfer speeds that I see are about what you say you got. I understand what you meant in your message and do not need to give you a lesson in bit or bytes.

The "speed tests" results that you mention are similar to mine also.

I don't have a clue why the transfer is slower than, say, an ISO download is from a major site, but it is.

I don't think it has a thing to do with the type router you have. Mine is different, and the one one that I have transfered files with are also different. I also don't think it has anything to do with your operating system. I have seen the same results with XP and Linux.

I use ftp to transfer digital family photos. The files used to choke the email systems, that's why I tried ftp. I've seen 10-15 second times for transferring 5 megabyte photos. That seems OK to me, even though the speed test to my ISP shows a 3 megabyte file takes 5 seconds to transfer.

I guess if you really needed to transfer a buch of large files regularly, it would be best to have extra space on your ISP where the files could be uploaded to and downloaded from., useing ftp. I have found that it is fast to upload to my isp's server. But they don't give you much space. ( 5 mb or so)

Good luck. Let us know if you find where the bottleneck is and how to overcome it.

Hudson

I have a similar problem..... Using WS-ftp pro (v.7) to maintain my website. Been using it for over a year with no problems. uploading a new Photo Gallery package to my site, and starting to transfer one of the required image processing file directories. When I've uploaded this directory before, it usually takes about 6 minutes, total. This time, it starts off at 40 - 43 kbps for about 15 seconds, then slowly decreases till it finally reaches 0 then disconnects. While this is going on, I notice the "Cable" light on the modem flashing sporadically untill it finally stops, and sure enough, my connection is dead. I unplug/plug in the modem, reboot, and the connection is back up. If I try to ftp the files again, same thing.

We had a Citrix/vpn client on the computer(for my wife's work) for well over a year...The day this happened they had her install a new Cisco VPN client. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks.